


The Melting Point of Rubber

by Ceia



Series: A Cookbook of Salad Recipes [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Gen, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 21:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceia/pseuds/Ceia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Never in his life has Sanji felt so utterly, utterly conflicted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Melting Point of Rubber

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: set after the timeskip.  
> Disclaimer: all the characters and locations belong to Eiichiro Oda.  
> Concrit: is loved and always appreciated. Thanks!!

Two years ago, in the bowels of Impel Down, lay the captain of a notorious pirate crew staring death in the face, and a miracle-working Queen offering him a lifesaving deal.

"Ten years off your lifespan, Straw-Hat-boy," Ivankov said, voice fluid and words blunt.

Luffy gasped out a tentative, acknowledging _ah._ The Queen's eyes narrowed and his teeth glinted in the darkness of the cave as his lips pulled into a venomous smile. He dropped the next bombshell with a gentle sigh. "But unfortunately, even that is not enough. Your body is ruined beyond complete reconstruction, at this point.”

Suddenly, he raised his gloved hands. Luffy's bloodshot eyes widened as Ivankov’s nails abruptly lengthened into needle-like points, his fingers becoming syringes. Somehow, he didn’t have a very good feeling about what Ivankov was going to suggest.

The Queen smoothly continued, "At least, in its _current_ form it cannot be saved. The shell of your body is ruined, you know.” Sashaying over to the concrete table the boy was strapped down to, the pronounced clicking of Ivankov’s purple heels echoed throughout the cave, and that sour smile from before was quite suddenly sweet. Feeling very much like he was probably going to die either way, Luffy had no choice but to trust Ivankov, this large and intimidating figure who spoke so softly and yet with such malice sewn into every word. Ivankov leaned down closer to his patient and arched an inquisitive, finely plucked eyebrow at him. “If you vant to live, Straw-Hat-boy, I am afraid your options are extremely limited," he said, breath warm against Luffy’s pale cheek.

Yeah. That didn’t sound so great. Frozen, poisoned and thinking only of Ace, Luffy grunted, straining to lift his head to make sure Ivankov knew he was listening. There wasn’t time for fear when every second wasted was a second further away from saving his brother.

Aware that the boy was no longer able to speak intelligibly, judging by the erratic, scratchy breathing coming from him in place of words, Ivankov calmly explained the only available procedure to Luffy capable of possibly saving his life.

In response to it, Luffy choked. Helpless and rapidly deteriorating, even though he knew that time was ticking by the Straw Hat captain nonetheless hesitated when the deal was presented to him. But there was no time to think of how his crew would react to it, how he could begin to comprehend dealing with such a change. It was something he had never considered, never even dreamed of before. Unfathomable, and not exactly an ideal way to be brought back from the brink of death. But what else could he do? Lay and die – let Ace die, too - because the only way out of it didn’t quite suit him?

Luffy closed his eyes, straining now even to breathe. Utterly powerless, this was what he was resigned to if he at all valued his brother's life.  The conditions were- well, they were what they were. If they would allow him to reach Ace then he would take anything he could.

And, hey. If he got out of it alive, it might even be kinda fun.

Briefly the cave was filled with a silence pregnant with tension. Ivankov cocked his head to one side, curious and almost playful. "How about it, hmm?” he purred, but the smile pulling at the corners of his lips seemed to know the answer already. "The clock is ticking, Straw-Hat-boy. Vill you accept my offer?"

All it took was Luffy's weak nod of acquiescence for Ivankov to slam his needle-like nails deep into the boy's sides, injecting him with molten hormones hot enough to liquidise, and he watched as the Straw Hat captain began to uncontrollably thrash and scream beneath him.

 

* * *

 

Two years later, on Sabaody Archipelago, Roronoa Zoro is striding calmly back to Grove 17. Physically he is bulkier, stronger, walks with more presence than he did the last time they came through this town. The tourists and locals catch sight of him and jolt back when they see the scar on his face, the one, two, three swords which clank in punctuation of each step and further assert his notorious title of Pirate Hunter.  

A little way ahead walks Sanji, uncharacteristically quiet with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched as if in a sulk. They've partaken in the usual banter and exchanged the usual flared insults, but otherwise Sanji hasn’t entertained as much as Zoro had anticipated after being away from his favourite marimo for two whole years. He has, of course, literally fallen over himself at the sight of almost every single woman they’ve been unfortunate enough to encounter along their stroll towards Sunny. But even then, Sanji forced himself away from each beautiful woman, and even more surprisingly without any push from Zoro at all.

He’s not going to lose any sleep over it but Zoro is nonetheless concerned by Sanji’s unusually quiet behaviour. _Eve_ _n the first thing he said to me was strange. Looked nervous too. "You- you idiot, wasting time like this! We need to find the others, and get to the ship as soon as possible!" No mention of Robin or Nami at all. Is he really so eager to see the others as well? What the hell has happened to him?_

Zoro narrows his one good eye and glares at the back of Sanji's head as if he might somehow be able to pierce it. _What are you hiding, you shitty cook?_

Gradually the bustle of suburban Sabaody leads out onto the rolling emerald hills which were at one time a battleground for Supernovas and Marines. Now there is little here, the groves are largely unchanged, and after some brief navigation the cook directs them toward their awaiting ship on a meandering route through lush grassy plains.  

Perhaps Sanji is just nervous to see everybody. Now that being reunited is about to become a reality, Zoro begins to wonder how everybody else has changed in the time they've spent apart, too. But rather than feeling nervous about it, he’s really looking forward to meeting his comrades again. Of course he’d wondered about them countless times before now, during lonely cold evenings after backbreaking training, but there’s a new sense of anticipation bubbling inside Zoro now that he knows he is finally heading back to the ship which has become his home, to the people who are his family.   

A slight grin tugs at his lips at the thought of seeing Luffy again, too, having inevitably worried about him after everything with his brother, the war at Marineford and whatever else happened. It is, after all, a first mate’s responsibility to look after their captain – a responsibility which has been wrenched from Zoro for two whole years. He doesn’t like to think about it too much, though; it has taken a very long time to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t there during what was undoubtedly the worst point in Luffy’s life. Instead, he thinks about the present, about the future waiting for them in the New World.

What will Luffy be like now? Has he lost an eye, too?  How many new abilities has he learned, and is he bringing any new crewmates with him? Zoro sort of hopes their captain hasn't changed too much, if he’s really honest with himself. But somehow he knows he won’t have to hope very hard for that. Luffy will probably be the very same… well, Luffy, that he’s always been. Zoro is just fine with that.

Hopefully, though, he’s a heck of a lot stronger now. And there’s a thought that really makes Zoro grin – a spar to test the strength of his captain? That sounds like a perfect welcome-home.

As they approach Grove 17 the overwhelmingly green surroundings begin to look familiar, and with familiarity comes the anxious nostalgia of the fight with Kuma which took place in this very area. And yet with those feelings of faded despair, the memories of utter helplessness and of disappearing when his crew needed him most, Zoro finds himself smiling. So much has changed since then, and he’s looking forward to the normality - or rather, the craziness of normal life on board Sunny again. Two years felt more like a lifetime during training, and longer still without the company of good friends. It feels good just to be here, the last place where they were all together.

When he and Sanji finally reach Thousand Sunny, they find everybody but their captain already out on the deck enjoying a happy reunion. Admittedly, while the only person missing is the one Zoro was looking forward to seeing the most, it'll make seeing him again that much better, so it’s not that bad.

More than ever, now, he just can't wait to see how much stronger Luffy is. The great man he must’ve become through so many hardships. Just thinking about it is enough to make Zoro feel intensely proud of his captain without having seen him, and he’s grinning as he steps out onto the deck, unaware of how suddenly panicked and agitated Sanji has become. He’s long since forgotten any Prince Lovely concerns when he’s only minutes away from seeing Luffy again.

 _Better go and get the sake ready to celebrate_ , he thinks, and heads down into Sunny’s cellar.

 

* * *

 

When they arrived on the ship and he finally saw the rest of the crew again, Sanji was initially pretty surprised. Wow, he'd thought, they're all so incredibly different now. Well, aesthetically they have changed for sure - particularly the girls, Sanji was delighted to note. But it was in that blissful acknowledgement that he all-too-suddenly remembered the biggest change of all within their crew, and Sanji - frustratingly unable to fully appreciate his two beautiful mellorines with the knowledge he had yet to impart - knew he had no choice but to call an emergency meeting. He simply could not enjoy himself until he said what needed to be said, and it's been grinding down on him all goddamn day.

And so, here they all are, standing on the lawn of the deck. Five pairs of eyes and two empty black sockets worriedly face their cook, none of them particularly eager to hear whatever it is Sanji has to say. Zoro looks especially unimpressed when he resurfaces from the cellar with several bottles of sake in hand, scowling when he realises that Sanji has indeed been hiding something from them. Seeing as their captain is the only member yet to arrive, Sanji almost certainly wants to talk about him, and the stressed look on his face is not one which foretells happy news.

Figuring he deserves to at least attempt an easy way out, Sanji calmly – suspiciously - asks them what they know about their captain. The answer is nothing, of course, but following the death of his brother and two years of separation, they're all expecting a somewhat different Luffy to the one they left on the archipelago before. _Why, what has happened, is something wrong, and how the hell do you know if there is, you shitty cook?_

 _Of course_ , the shitty cook sighs. _Absolutely pointless to ask_. They're right to assume that their captain has changed, but he knows they're underestimating just how much. And why wouldn't they? If he hadn't been stuck on that shitty hellhole of an island with that damned awful Queen, Sanji wouldn't have had any idea either.

He slumps down onto the mast's bench, forehead in hand, grimacing as he attempts a mental explanation. Awkward, jumbled, clichéd, none of the words which come to mind sound right, and worse still are the sentences he tries forming with them. He takes a long drag on his cigarette, wishing there was an easy way to let them know, and for a few moments the only sounds to be heard in Sunny’s vicinity are those of a gentle breeze rustling the trees, and the popping of a few gigantic bubbles overhead.

There's a sudden chink of metal hitting wood as Zoro takes a threatening step forwards, a hand hovering over the swords knocking together at his side. He yells at the shitty cook to hurry up with whatever it is he has to say because he's making them worried and none of them are goddamn mindreaders. Behind him, Chopper nods furiously and Usopp yells a similarly angry plea. Sanji thinks to himself, while he spits back a half-hearted insult, that life would be so much easier if they were.

Finally his eyes slowly roll up to properly look at his friends. Inhales, exhales, takes another long drag on his cigarette. There's nothing left now but to just come out and say it. After all, it's... it's not really a big deal, right?

"Luffy has... changed," is all he can manage to say, and immediately looks back down though this time at his feet. _Ah, safe green grass of Sunny’s lawn, at least you haven’t changed._  

Everybody just sort of blinks. _Well, duh, of course he's changed. It's been two years. We all have!_ is the resounding response, and the collective look fixed on Sanji evolves from worried to incredulous. What is he, stupid? “Betcha he hasn’t changed as much as THIS suuuupeeeer bad boy!” Franky proclaims, bulky arms flexing into his signature pose.

"No, you don't- you don't understand," Sanji growls, his head beginning to ache. It's not a big deal. Come on, just tell them. Tell them! "He's... he's not..."

The tension on deck explodes in the subsequent resounding silence. When they realise that Sanji is apparently incapable of continuing, a commotion breaks out and the cook finds himself on the receiving end of a frenetic barrage of questions from Chopper, Franky, Usopp and Zoro, head dipped low as he tries to shield his face with his hair. But Brook and Robin remain quiet at the back of the group, having already noticed the pink blush which has crept over Sanji's face. In fact, it isn't until Nami decidedly stomps over to give Sanji a good shake and snap him out of it when she - and the rest of them - finally notice that whatever Sanji is struggling to tell them is not something worrying him, but rather something ... embarrassing him?

The navigator immediately sits down close beside Sanji. There's only one way to get it out of him at this point - and whatever it is, it needs to come out _now_. With her hand on his shoulder and her right breast pressing ever so slightly against his arm, Nami gently, coaxingly asks, "Can you tell us _how_ Luffy has changed, Sanji-kun?"

An already weakened Sanji cannot possibly resist such a powerful attack by Nami-swan. His back involuntarily straightens. His blush deepens. With the resolve of a perverted man trying his very best to _not_ be beaten by the threat of a surely impending nosebleed, Sanji slaps both hands hard onto his thighs, whimpering. He can do this. He can DO THIS. "Our Captain-"

\- shit, the words won't come. No, he can do this. Come on. It is NOT a big deal! "Our... our Captain..."

Zoro has had enough and unsheathes shuusui. In a panic Nami leans right in close and Sanji's breath hitches at the warmth of her almost-bare chest squashed against his arm, the tickle of a lock of copper hair brushing over his shoulder.

He all but squeaks, "Our Captain... our Captain is...!"

The crew brace themselves.

Defiantly throwing his head back, Sanji is a second away from yelling what he has been trying to say from the start when there is an obnoxiously loud cry from above them. The cook's voice dies in his throat, then, when he and the rest of the Straw Hats look up and see a black-haired, red-shirted figure riding a flying fish through the sky toward them, accompanied by a backpack rivalling Franky in mass.

“OOOOI,” Luffy calls out to them, waving excitedly in greeting at the wonderfully familiar faces waiting down below. There is a collective gasp, followed by an immediate, relieved and triumphant roar of their captain's name. Luffy, mostly hidden from view by the giant fish, drops the backpack and jumps down feet-first onto the deck when it passes the ship low overhead, immediately enveloped by the cheering crew.

After a minute or so of cheering Luffy is gradually released from the entanglement of arms pale, tanned and furred, and Sanji, still unable to find his voice – much less move from the bench – watches with widening eyes and a gaping mouth as Nami squeezes their captain, who just so happens to land directly in front of her, into a tight hug. Over their shoulders and visible behind a similarly wide-eyed Zoro is Robin, wearing a tell-tale grin which says _Don’t worry, I know_ when Sanji meets her eyes.  When the cheering quietens, and they actually get a good, up-close look at their captain, all of the boys find themselves jolting back in shock.

Suddenly, what Sanji has been trying to tell them all along is abundantly clear.

“Oof, Nami!” Luffy laughs, voice a bit higher in pitch than normal, and Nami laughs as well, the sound bright and pleased. She’s too excited to notice the soft mounds pressed hard against her chest, the waist beneath her arms so much narrower than before. “Luffy! You’re here! Sanji was making us worry about you! Wow, what’s happened to you, you feel so- so-”

“Shishishi! I know right! Isn’t it great? These things are pretty heavy though, and they sure get in the way a lot.”

“Eh? What things?” Nami releases her captain, and only when she holds Luffy at arm’s length does she finally notice what all the others are speechlessly staring at.

Curves. So many curves. _Incredible_ curves, in fact, by way of full breasts cupped in a bikini, rounded hips and a slender waist accentuated by tight and low-cut shorts. Hair as dark as always but thicker, longer, tousled. Eyes with longer lashes and slightly bigger pupils, but nonetheless the very same eyes which belong to their captain- dark, mischievous and confident, complete with the same scar smiling on the left. Even right down to her mannerisms – she sets her hands on her hips and chuckles unabashed when she realises why they’re all so quiet - the girl standing in the middle of the Straw Hat pirates is unquestionably Luffy. And if all of that wasn’t enough, the infamous straw hat by which their crew is named is sitting firmly on her head, looking exactly the same as it did two years ago.

 “Aahh, I guess I haven’t had a chance to tell you guys,” she says, scratching at the back of her neck while glancing furtively around at her crewmates. Robin smiles serenely when their eyes meet, offering a gentle nod of acknowledgement. Franky looks very impressed with the change and offers Luffy an enthusiastic thumbs up, which is immediately returned. “Suuuupeeeeer transformation, Luffy, I like it!”

Usopp, who has gone through every human emotion in the space of a second, faints.  Brook takes a sip of his tea, unsure whether or not he’d like to request a peek at Luffy’s panties. Chopper, while gobsmacked, looks marginally more inquisitive about it than, say, Zoro, whose mouth is about as wide as Usopp’s nose is long.  

Luffy can see everybody but Sanji, and swings around to find him standing behind her and looking a little bit like a zombie – hunched, withered, pale-skinned and as though he’s just come home from a trip through hell. “Haha, there you are!” she says brightly, clapping her hands together in front of her chest and looking just delighted to see him. Well, _that_ mannerism sure is new.

Never in his life has Sanji – poor emotionally exhausted Sanji - felt so utterly, utterly conflicted. In fact, he decides, this is even worse than that dreadful first encounter with Ivankov. Because never in his life has Sanji tried so hard - _so very hard_ \- to maintain such strict eye contact with a beautiful lady. Never in his life has he _ever_ had to maintain strict eye contact with _Luffy_ , because Luffy was not a beautiful lady until about two minutes ago, and most definitely is now. Suddenly all the abstract and honestly grotesque images of Luffy that had been floating around in his mind since Ivankov told him about the change – almost comically ugly like the other okama on that shitty island– are irrevocably gone. Luffy is just... stunning.

Thankfully, Sanji somehow manages to maintain his composure when he looks at Luffy – his captain, _that’s his captain_ \- but when he tries to word, no, when he tries to put his words, THOUGHTS, thoughts into words, he finds that in fact he cannot word at all. Well. How about that. What even are words? Sanji isn’t sure he knows anymore. Huh.

As if on cue, there’s an explosion to the side of Sunny which abruptly shocks the crew out of their gawking, speechless stupor. Nami immediately reigns in control of the ship -“Tell us more about this later on, Luffy, when we’re done getting bombed by the Marines!” - and in one earth shattering crash of a moment, the normality of Straw Hat chaos has wholeheartedly resumed aboard their beloved ship. 

 


End file.
